Data handling

Data Handling didn't begin with the invention of computers. Mankind has needed to sort and search information in order to get answers for centuries. Before computers arrived, the card index was the nearest thing to a database that existed. It was fine if the cards were in alphabetical order and if they were sorted on the particular piece of information you wanted, but if not, you were in for a very long job. So if you wanted to look up Richard Heydon in the card index it was simply a matter of going to 'H' and reading his card. But what is you wanted to do something as simple as check some detail about every person called 'Richard'. You'd have to examine every single card - there'd be no short cut.

A wonderful example of an early database is the Huntingdon Gaol Record. It was a simple concept. Just like today, the government wanted to bring in stiffer penalties for persistent offenders. So a book was started and everyone who was convicted of a crime had their details and a photograph recorded in the book. It would be simple, they thought, to see if a person committed further crimes by looking to see if he appeared in the book already. It didn't work of course. People move to other districts, or simply use different names, and looking through the entire book became an increasingly impossible job. The idea was abandoned in 1970. Now if only they'd had a computer all that information could have been recorded in a database and searches would have been simple. On the left you can see a page from the rules section in which prison clothing is described.

Amazingly, that same book is now available in the form of a computer database, although at present it is only available for Acorn computers. But it means that we can perform the searches which the Victorian police couldn't. Not only can we look to see who was convicted of what (and what their punishment was!) but we can find fascinating patterns in the data.

And that's the extraordinary thing about using a computer to analyse data. It goes far beyond looking up a record and reading the information written on it. Not only can you search for any word or any part of a word and quickly home in on it, you can also sort alphabetically or numerically, in either direction on any piece of data in an instant. A computer lets you select subsets of the data. It lets you plot graphs and see data visually. It allows you to discover trends and patterns, which are completely invisible when the data is written on cards or arranged in columns on a sheet of paper.

Data handling skills for children
How can we teach children the skills they need to access the power of data handling. What should a five year old be able to do? What about an eleven year old? The answer can be found in the National Curriculum for England and Wales. The 'data handling' strand is now included under the umbrella term 'Finding Things Out' but the skills it describes are clear and helpful.

Level 1 (average 6 year old) - sorting and classifying different objects. Level 2(average 7 year old) - Plotting graphs from collected data and interpreting the results. Level 3 (average 9 year old) - conducting simple searches using a ready-made database in order to answer questions. Level 4 (average 11 year old) - conducting complex searches (e.g. using two or three fields, statistics, sorts, or advanced search options, etc) in order to answer questions. Level 5 (average 13 year old) - deciding what data is needed to answer questions and creating a new database to hold it, then collecting and entering the data and finding the answers to the questions.

Notice that creating a new database does not appear until much later. This is because it's necessary to design a database so that the correct data is contained in the correct form in order to be able to answer questions. The start of a computer database is not the software, it's deciding what questions you want answers to and then the tricky part - what data is needed and in what form to be able to get those answers? Only when those things are established is the database created and the data collected.

The early stages of data handling are best covered using simple modelling and graphing software. But from about age seven onwards you need a good database with a range of ready made data files which the children can access and interrogate.

For details of Junior Viewpoint, a simple and educational database helping children up to level 5, click here.

For details on Viewpoint, a relational database, supported by curriculum datafiles, powerful form designer and web resources for children up to and beyond level 8, click here.